Zoltan Gera sunk to his knees, in joyous, and most probably in exhausted, disbelief. ‘And now you’ve got to believe it’ rang the cry from ITV commentator Peter Drury on the night. Fulham had done the impossible. They were hardly supposed to be here, let alone get this far. But the Cottagers had vanquished Hamburg and were heading for the Europa League final – in Hamburg – against all sense of predetermined logic. ‘Hamburg will host the final, Fulham will play in it’ was the lingo. In a competition that featured names like Liverpool, Benfica, Valencia, and the rest, it was Fulham who’d be tussling with Atletico Madrid. It was a Europa League tournament in 2009/10 that took them places; from Basel to Rome, from Turin to Donetsk. Yet, in a way, Fulham’s journey to the Europa League started a little close by; some 163 miles from London, in Manchester.
Enter Roy Hodgson
It was December 2007, and nothing was going right for Fulham. They finished the previous season just a point above the drop zone, and parted with manager Chris Coleman before it came to a close. Lawrie Sanchez – who’d previously worked near-miracles with the Northern Ireland national team – was appointed caretaker, and then at the end of season, handed a three-year contract. But just two wins in their first 19 league games of 2007/08 did for the Ulsterman. Fulham were not so much flirting with relegation, as they were starting to get familiar with the prospect, when Roy Hodgson was appointed manager at the end of the calendar year.
Hodgson’s managerial record included a UEFA Cup final with Inter, but his last foray in the Premier League was leaving Blackburn on the path to relegation in 1998. And the Englishman’s latest managerial list read; Finland national team, Viking, the United Arab Emirates national team, Udinese, and Copenhagen. ‘I am determined that we will overcome the current position’, said Hodgson when he took charge. ‘I understand it will be a challenge, but one that I will relish’. Hodgson was noted for making four Scandinavian signings – including Brede Hangeland, who’d go on to become a cult hero, and veteran Jari Litmanen.
Fulham began the Hodgson era with a 1-1 draw at Birmingham, but only won one of their first ten games, and when they drew 2-2 with already-relegated Derby County in March, conceding a late equaliser, that looked to be that. ‘'Going down,' sang the Derby fans. 'So are we,' responded Fulham’s. ‘Derby are officially down… Second-bottom Fulham should be back at Pride Park in next season's Championship...' Duncan Castles, then of The Guardian, wrote.
Manchester and the Great Escape
Three points from their next three games had them staring at the barrel of relegation when they went to Manchester City on April 26, and they went two-nil down after 21 minutes, Stephen Ireland and Benjani drilling the final nails into their coffin, it seemed. By halftime, Fulham’s ordeal in Manchester, along with Birmingham surprisingly holding a comfortable lead against Liverpool, meant the London club was mathematically down. ‘I had friends in the stadium, they left at half-time to go to the pub’, said midfielder Jimmy Bullard. ‘They thought ‘Nah, Fulham are down’’. But Hodgson wasn’t deterred yet. ‘At 0-2 I honestly thought we weren't out of it. I never lost hope’. And with 20 minutes to go Diomansy Kamara grabbed a goal back for the visitors, and nine minutes later Danny Murphy scored a rebound from a saved penalty.
Yet, that was far from enough. Hodgson may have not been deterred, but his demeanour in the dugout bore that of a man on the cusp of being paralysed with anxiety, most notably when he sunk to his seat in agony after a Bullard effort flew narrowly wide. But salvation would come from Kamara, in the second minute of stoppage time, when he beat Joe Hart at his near post. ‘… to win it was extraordinary. We've given ourselves a chance now’, Hodgson said post-match. Fulham had turned it around, and remarkably, thanks to Birmingham blowing a two-goal lead against Liverpool, and Reading failing to beat Wigan, they could climb out of the drop zone with a win in their next game – against Birmingham. Beat Birmingham they would, thanks to Brian McBride and Erik Nevland, and as Reading lost to Tottenham, Fulham were out of the drop zone on goal difference, for the first time since January, with a solitary game left.
A win against Portsmouth – who had their sights set on their FA Cup final – would be enough, and it would be Danny Murphy who provided it. Fulham were being held at Fratton Park, going into the final 15 minutes, and, with Reading demolishing Derby, were going down. But Murphy’s header would change that. ‘Jimmy (Bullard) got a free-kick. He was always very good on set plays. I decided, which I shouldn't have done because it wasn't my job, to go in the box and try to score a goal. Sometimes you get a feeling. I knew I would score’, said the match winner. Incredibly, Fulham had done it. Yet when they survived by the skin of their teeth – by three goals – the prospect of some European journey would have been the last thing on their minds.
Journey to Knockout Phase
Especially since they started the following season by losing to new boys Hull City. In fact, when they lost to Sunderland in their 21st league game of 2008/09, they were 16th, and survival without the dramatic hassle of the previous campaign would have been welcome. But Fulham mustered eight wins from their next 17 games, and only lost six times, to snatch seventh spot against all odds. It was a season in which they bagged wins over Arsenal, Manchester United, and newly-enriched Man City, and suddenly Fulham were ‘going on a European tour’, as their fans sang.
Early commitments meant their season began on July 30, with a trip to Lithuanian side FK Vetra in the Third Qualifying Round. Vetra were dispatched with ease – 6-0 on aggregate – but Amkar Perm in the playoffs were harder work, with the Russians one goal away from knocking Fulham out after the second leg ended. The group stage draw pitted them with Roma, CSKA Sofia, and Basel. They won one of their first four group games, and if they were going to make the next round, would have to do it the hard way. First came a win over CSKA Sofia on Matchday Five, thanks to an early goal from Zoltan Gera. They still needed to win at Basel in the final group game, but they did the job, a Bobby Zamora double securing a 3-2 victory, and leapfrogging their hosts to a place in the Last 32. ‘Basel coup leaves Fulham dreaming’, UEFA’s official website noted.
Bobby Zamora and Zoltan Gera
Bobby Zamora, in particular, proved to be a pivotal part of Fulham’s European journey. It didn’t start well for the former West Ham and Spurs striker at Craven Cottage, with just four goals in the 2008/09 season, opening him up to criticism. Zamora was linked with a move to Hull in the summer of 2009, and a deal had been agreed between both clubs. But he opted to stay put, and by the end of the season, there was talk of whether he could make England’s World Cup squad. The partnership between Zamora and Zoltan Gera especially bore fruit, and the pair both twice scored in Fulham’s six group games.
The duo was at it again, when Fulham played holders Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their Last 32 tie. Gera and Zamora both got on the scoresheet – Zamora scoring a 25-yarder assisted by Gera – as they took a 2-1 lead from the first leg. In front of more than 47,000 fans at the Donbas in the return leg, Fulham took an unlikely lead via Brede Hangeland, and despite being pegged back on the night, held on for an aggregate victory to head for the Last 16.
Vanquishing Mighty Juventus
Next up was Juventus; whose season wasn’t exactly going according to plan. Champions League failings had led the Italian giants to the Europa League, but they were still among the favourites to win the competition. And when they beat Fulham 3-1 in the first leg, their past to the next round seemed a formality. Particularly after David Trezeguet gave Juventus the lead in the second leg after two minutes.
Fulham were 4-1 down, and that was meant to be that. They came, they played, it was epic, but now it was time for reality to set in. Except, not quite, as only seven minutes later Zamora equalised on the night, and then Juventus saw defender Fabio Cannavaro get sent off. Fulham sensed blood, and by the fifth minute of the second half, they were level on the tie, Gera had scored twice, and parity had been restored. With eight minutes left, and extra-time looming, it was left to Clint Dempsey to provide a moment of magic, with an audacious chip, to send Fulham to the Last Eight. ‘Something told me to just go for it. What do you have to lose?’ Dempsey told Sports Illustrated in 2020.
Fulham had been going for it all season, and had knocked out the mighty Juventus. ‘Juventus, aristocrats of Serie A and twice winners of the European Cup, have fallen at Craven Cottage’, wrote the late Kevin McCarra for The Guardian. ‘We should just do a Rocky Marciano and retire now because it's not going to get any better than this’, said Roy Hodgson.
Two Germans and the Solar Plexus of Fantasy
But it would get better than this. The quarter-finals produced a meeting with German champions Wolfsburg, and Zamora would be at it again. The striker struck in the first leg, alongside Damien Duff, for a 2-1 win, and in the second, gave Fulham the lead after 21 seconds, a lead they’d hold on to. ‘Who would have guessed they (Fulham) would dump the Bundesliga champions out of Europe in their own backyard?’ said the Daily Mirror afterwards. ‘Yet this is the level they are at right now and deservedly so’.
Up next, another German side, in Hamburg. Hamburg would be the hosts of the 2010 Europa League final, and had extra motivation to reach the showpiece match, especially since they suffered a heart-breaking loss to bitter rivals Werder Bremen at the same stage the previous season. They were unlucky not to win the first leg, Fulham goalie Mark Schwarzer keeping them at bay in a game that ended goalless, but all wasn’t going particularly well for the Germans. Despite starting the season without a defeat in their first ten games, Hamburg’s campaign had gone downhill, and a defeat to Hoffenheim saw manager Bruno Labbadia get sacked before the second leg.
Ricardo Moniz was put in caretaker charge ahead of the return game at Craven Cottage, as Hamburg sought a final that would salvage their season. Yet, this was still a Hamburg that had names like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ze Roberto, Joris Mathijsen, and young stars Eljero Elia and Jonathan Pitroipa. They also had future Fulham player Mladen Petric in the side, who ended the season as their top scorer. And it was Petric who got the ball rolling in the second leg with a free-kick after 22 minutes, a goal described by commentator Peter Drury as ‘a blow to the Solar Plexus of the Fulham fantasy’.
'This is Fulham for Heaven's Sake'
But the Cottage wouldn’t go quiet, and fans and players alike had seen the club overcome too much adversity in the past two years to simply accept what fate was willing to give. With 20 minutes to go, Simon Davies levelled things for the hosts, and cut Hamburg’s lead to the hair’s breadth that was the away goal. And, just like against Portsmouth two years earlier, the winner came in the final 15 minutes. Gera had been one of the stars of that European campaign, and cemented himself into Fulham folklore when he grabbed the decisive second goal. It was he who knelt to the ground in disbelief after the final whistle.
‘What a team. what heart, what character, what spirit’ muttered commentator Jim Beglin afterwards. ‘This is Fulham for heaven’s sake’ uttered Drury. ‘Roy Hodgson's remarkable Fulham have reached a dream Europa League final…’ wrote Michael Landon for Goal, while The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson got more poetic. 'Fulham's stellar season will have the ultimate sprinkling of stardust when Roy Hodgson's team proudly take their deserved place in the Europa League final'.
The final didn’t quite provide the fairytale finish Fulham wanted. Fate couldn’t afford them one last triumph, but the Londoners did take Atletico Madrid to the wire, again responding to the adversity, and only falling in the final minutes of extra-time to a Diego Forlan winner. ‘It was a very good time’, said Roy Hodgson more than ten years later. ‘So many of the players we came across in that run have become household names. We didn't quite get the trophy, but to come so close to winning it, I will always look back on it as a great achievement’
Fulham haven’t quite hit anywhere near these heights since; they got to the Europa League again two years after, under Martin Jol, but fell at the group stage, while they’ve tussled between promotion and relegation since 2018. Roy Hodgson’s exploits earned him a job at Liverpool, and ultimately with the English national team, but both ended in dissatisfactory notes, and the veteran manager is on the cusp of relegation with Watford, having been coaxed out of retirement.
But Fulham will always have 2010. They’ll have always have flooring Juventus, going to Rome, screaming in Wolfsburg, and heading for the Nord Bank. A journey which, when Stephen Ireland slammed Manchester City in the lead in April 2008 against them, seemed too far-fetched to even be fantasy.
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